yaokui: Tomoe Sushi

Address: 172 Thompson St, New York

Phone: 212-777-9346

Anyone who lives in New York and love sushi should really check out this restaurant. It is almost a crime to not eat at Tomoe Sushi, given that they have one of the best sushi in town at such reasonable price! Gan and I have been relying on Tomoe Sushi year after year to satisfy our sushi/sashimi cravings without breaking the bank. The freshness of the sushi at Tomoe is comparable to those you get at places like Sushi Yasuda or Sushi of Gari, but instead of paying top dollar, you are really getting your money’s worth at Tomoe. It is said that Tomoe Sushi is able to serve sushi at such a good price because the owner has the best selections/supplies of fishes from the local distributors – talk about the importance of having good “guanxi”.

The best way to sample the sushi/sashimi in this restaurant is to order the Sushi and Sashimi combination dinner. Gan and I would usually share one combination dinner and have some ala carte sushi/sashimi - we definitely recommend the Hamachi ("belly" yellowtail) and Toro (fatty tuna). We love the tempura here as well; they are almost as good as the tempura we ate at the tempura specialty restaurants in Tokyo. If you have room for dessert, don’t miss out on the restaurant’s signature tempura banana vanilla ice cream, it is so good.

The restaurant opens at 5pm for dinner and since it does not take reservation, expect to wait in line even during icy cold winter. But once you get in, you will forget about everything else, and feel totally blessed with simple, fresh and heavenly sushi.